The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor |
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23rd Chancellor of the College of William and Mary | |
In office October 4, 2005 – February 3, 2012 |
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President |
Gene Nichol Taylor Reveley |
Preceded by | Henry Kissinger |
Succeeded by | Robert Gates |
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
In office September 25, 1981 – January 31, 2006 |
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Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
Preceded by | Potter Stewart |
Succeeded by | Samuel Alito |
Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals for Division One | |
In office December 1979 – September 25, 1981 |
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Nominated by | Bruce Babbitt |
Preceded by | Mary Schroeder |
Succeeded by | Sarah D. Grant |
Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court for Division 31 | |
In office January 1975 – December 1979 |
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Preceded by | David J. Perry |
Succeeded by | Cecil B. Patterson Jr. |
Member of the Arizona Senate from the 24th district |
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In office January 8, 1973 – January 13, 1975 |
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Preceded by | Howard S. Baldwin |
Succeeded by | John Pritzlaff |
Member of the Arizona Senate from the 20th district |
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In office January 11, 1971 – January 8, 1973 |
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Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Bess Stinson |
Member of the Arizona Senate from the 8-E district |
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In office October 30, 1969 – January 11, 1971 |
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Preceded by | Isabel Burgess |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born |
Sandra Day March 26, 1930 El Paso, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | John O'Connor (1930–2009) |
Children | 3 |
Education | Stanford University (BA, LLB) |
Signature |
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States serving from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan until her retirement in 2006. She was the first woman to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Prior to O'Connor's tenure on the Court, she was an elected official and judge in Arizona serving as the first female Majority Leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. Upon her nomination to the Court, O'Connor was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. On July 1, 2005, she announced her intention to retire effective upon the confirmation of a successor.Samuel Alito was nominated to take her seat in October 2005, and joined the Court on January 31, 2006.
Considered a federalist and a moderate Republican, O'Connor tended to approach each case narrowly without arguing for sweeping precedents. She most frequently sided with the court's conservative bloc, although in the latter years of her tenure, she was regarded as having the swing opinion in many cases. She often wrote concurring opinions that limited the reach of the majority holding. Her majority opinions in landmark cases include Grutter v. Bollinger and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld. She also wrote in part the per curiam majority opinions in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Bush v. Gore.
O'Connor was Chancellor of The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and served on the board of trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also served on the Board of Trustees for Colonial Williamsburg. Several publications have named O'Connor among the most powerful women in the world. On August 12, 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor of the United States, by President Barack Obama.